The Arizona Cardinals notched their first win on Sunday in a hard-fought battle against another winless team in the Cincinnati Bengals. The Cardinals played extremely well and showed great command of the game, something that was not prevalent through the team’s previous four games. With the win on Sunday, the Cardinals tied the all-time series record against the Bengals 6-6-0. Although the Cardinals looked phenomenal in their win, it did not come without flaws. Here are the good, bad and ugly moments from Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The good: Great protection from the offensive line
The Cardinals offensive line has been much maligned this season allowing the third-most sacks in the NFL. However, the Cardinals offensive line had a great day blocking as they only allowed one sack for the entire game against a struggling Bengals front four ranked 28th in the NFL in creating sacks.
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray also showed some great elusiveness in the pocket to avoid critical sacks. While the offensive line is far from perfect, this was a day of victory for them.
The Bad: Almost losing the game
The Cardinals started off better than they have done the whole season by jumping out to a huge 26-9 in the fourth quarter against the Bengals. However, the game was almost lost as quickly as it was won as Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton threw two major touchdowns in the span of 2:08 to wide receivers Auden Tate and Tyler Boyd and took the game into overtime. Cardinals kicker Zane Gonzalez would end up saving the day with a game-winning 31-yard field goal.
The defense played much too relaxed and guys like Cardinals safety Budda Baker played some uncharacteristically shaky coverage late into the game such as on Tyler Boyd’s 42-yard reception:
The Cardinals will have to get things going on both sides of the ball on a more consistent basis if they are going to increase their win total.
The Ugly: Penalties. Penalties. Penalties.
The Cardinals had a miserable day with penalties and continued to erase positive plays from the board by going into the double-digits with twelve accepted penalties.
Cardinals offensive lineman D.J. Humphries had an exceptionally rough day as he was called for three penalties and also safety Deonte Thompson was called for a critical unnecessary roughness and a pass interference penalty.
In total, the Cardinals had 12 penalties for 96 yards. Those kinds of plays could potentially hamper an already struggling offense.
Some more good: Here’s that offense we’ve waited on
The Cardinals offense finally came alive against the Bengals finished with over 500 yards of total offense and looking completely dominant in the first half.
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray didn’t throw a touchdown pass but accounted for 343 total yards and a rushing touchdown. He threw and ran with sheer confidence and even played a part in icing the game on this play:
Cardinals running back David Johnson ran for a season-high 91 rushing yards on 5.4 yards per carry and also led the team in receiving yards with 65. Johnson has been arguably the key focus of the offense and it has paid dividends as he looks to rebound from a tough last season.
Cardinals kicker Zane Gonzalez even got in on the action as he bounced back from a tough Week 4 where he was only 1-for-3 on field goals. He redeemed himself by going 4-of-5 on field goals and accounted for half of the Cardinals points. His best kick of the game come in the final moments of the game where he would kick the game-winning field goal.
The Cardinals finally had a game this season where every part of the offense clicked well. You can’t ask for a better time for the Cardinals to get a big win as this one is definitely for the late, great Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill.
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